Steve Tool/Chieftain
Ken and Patti Coreson next to a Creating Memories van headed for Portland. "In no way could I do Creating Memories without Patti. She's my rock," Ken Coreson said.
‘Unsung Hero’ Ken Coreson has made
a life of providing memories for others
by Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
_______________________________________
Anyone who hears Ken Coreson’s story knows
he and his wife Patti live a life of service. Outside
of 40-plus seasons working the fishing boats of
Alaska, he’s built churches and pastored them.
He’s offered counseling services to other pastors
and even worked producing films.
Coreson is winner of the 2014 “Unsung Heroes”
award from the Wallowa County Chamber of
Commerce for his leadership role in forming and
sustaining the local charity “Creating Memories.”
He isn’t the kind of person who spends a lot of
time thinking about awards or how to win them —
he’s too busy helping both disabled children and
adults create memories by connecting with nature.
The calling for what Coreson describes as his true
life’s work came to him through a surreal spiritual
experience he had as a fisherman in Alaska — an
incident that affects him as profoundly now as it
did some 45 years ago.
Page 18 WALLOWA COUNTY GIVING 2015
As Coreson stood on a bluff overseeing some fish-
ing boat nets in the ocean, he looked several hun-
dred yards up the beach and saw six or eight
seagulls dive-bombing a small black object
moving on the beach. As the object struggled in
his direction, Corson realized it was a raven with
a badly broken wing.
“Those seagulls were trying to kill that raven,
and they’d knock him off his feet, but he’d strug-
gle back up. And I could sense just how hopeless
and tired he was. I was awash in sympathy for
him,” Coreson said.
At the same time, Coreson noted two ravens in
the sky that swooped down and landed on each
side of the struggling raven and began fighting off
the seagulls while guiding the wounded raven into
a pile of driftwood before flying away. “I know he
died in there, but at least he died in comfort. I’ve
never seen a disabled person since then who I
haven’t stopped and told them about our pro-
gram,” Coreson said.
The raven story figured later on in Coreson’s life
as he learned of the Boy Scout camp at Wallowa
Lake and went for a visit. After parking and look-
ing down toward what’s called the Driftwood Inn,
Coreson noted a totem pole topped by a raven with
a broken wing. He knew it was a sign. “I put my
heart into putting this thing back together and I
know that God will help us be successful with it,”
he said. Today, the totem pole is restored, as is
Karen’s Cabin at the camp, and the Driftwood Inn
is on the road to restoration.
Creating Memories now has a 50-year lease with
the Boy Scouts for the camp with an option to
renew for another 50 years, all for the price of $1.
Buying the camp outright is another option on the
table.
Creating Memories didn’t exist as a nonprofit
until recently. Coreson originally financed his
no-name philanthropic efforts with proceeds from
his fishing career and other endeavors until he
gave up the fishing three years ago at the behest